It’s fair to say Sony has started the year riding a tumultuous wave, the Japanese giant reeling in the aftermath of a disastrous live-service effort. The internet is awash with thoughts who’ll have you believe Sony’s current gen is cooked, but there was some undeniably decent stuff released to PlayStation last year and there is promise on the horizon of more to come.
Significantly, PlayStation’s most anticipated titles are single players, the format the platform built upon its modern era dominance during the PS4’s relentless production of top-tier single player exclusives. Shooting up the pecking order of most revered up-and-comers is PS5 and PC-exclusive action RPG Phantom Blade Zero, with its stylish mix of punishing combat and ancient mythos placing it firmly on everyone’s radar following the recently unveiled ‘Year of the Snake’ trailer.
In said trailer – released by Beijing-headquartered studio S-GAME to coincide with Chinese New Year – we’re treated to flashes of balletic combat as our enigmatic katana-wielding hero faces off against seven tightly choreographed opponents, six hooded clones commanded by a puppet master dubbed the Chief Disciple of the Seven Stars, attacking in unison with fluidity and precision.
The Soulslike comparisons weigh heavy here, with all seven launching a barrage of attacks in tandem, our hero unleashing countless blocks and parries with surgical meticulousness, reading manoeuvres, deflecting, and counterattacking akin to FromSoftware’s gruelling blueprint. To say Phantom Blade Zero’s combat will be challenging appears a gross understatement. However, as S-GAME implore, do not call this a Soulslike. Sure, whilst the parry-heavy swordplay of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a close approximation, study our hero’s move set closely and you’ll see flashes of Ninja Gaiden’s hack and slash with a brash flamboyance not unlike Metal Gear Rising.
Aesthetics aside, this multi-stage boss battle takes an unexpected twist too. In payback for raising his allies from the dead, once the Chief Disciple is slain his minions bring him back to life, of sorts, by attaching lines from higher ground to his motionless limbs in attempt to re-establish dominance over our hero, the Chief – still tough as nails to defeat – now flailing about the battlefield in jarringly imaginative, puppet-like ways.
This dedication to creativity in combat is certainly impressive, but developer S-GAME aren’t content with Phantom Blade Zero being solely battle-centric. This is a game taking place in a world steeped in ancient folklore and magical realism which, despite its burgeoning popularity in the West, still has the power to mystify. Yes, lore-heavy is another FromSoft touchstone, but S-GAME are portraying Phantom Blade Zero’s cultural themes with confidence and authenticity, the developer believing it’s important to not dilute what may seem obscure to non-Chinese gamers to tell a meaningful story supported by world-building and unique gameplay mechanics. Indeed, the studio’s CEO and Phantom Blade producer Liang Qiwei – coincidentally known as Soulframe in certain circles online – describes, in conversation with Japanese website 4Gamer during last year’s Tokyo Games Show, the forthcoming adventure as “kung-fu punk”.
They studied the ethos behind Hong Kong-style Kung-Fu, particularly it’s defensive and attacking prowess, and bridged any long-standing cultural misapprehensions by incorporating martial arts techniques and clothing more commonly known to Western audiences. The ‘punk’ element also derives from the game’s Steampunk influence; intricate machines with robotic limbs inhabit Phantom Blade Zero’s world, offering intrigue which defies easy categorisation.
The fruits of S-GAME’s effort are apparent in the already described unconventionalness of the Chief Disciple’s puppeteering; fusing tradition that’s opaque to global audiences with influence from well-known Kung Fu films of the 1970s and 80s, action movies starring household names like Bruce Lee with media from more erudite sources such as, say, director and choreographer Yuen Woo-ping’s 1978 movie ‘Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow’. That movie, featuring another household name in Jackie Chan, is revered for showcasing an unusual, snake-like style of Kung Fu and – as evidenced in the recent ‘Year of the Snake’ trailer – might be a direct inspiration for the encounter with the Chief Disciple of the Seven Stars and the weapons swung by our playable lead.
Indeed, the new footage showcases our protagonist – who goes by the moniker Soul – wielding the Soft Snake Sword, a blade which flexes and bends like ribbon with every swing, plus twin-katanas the White Serpent and the Crimson Viper, again blades with stretchability but also affording Soul awestriking ability to hurl one blade airwards whilst controlling its dizzying trajectory with the other.
In Phantom Blade Zero players will be able to equip two weapons at any time: a primary weapon such as the aforesaid blades plus a secondary ‘Shachi’ weapon, encompassing heavy-hitting hammers and axes to ranged weaponry like canons and arrows. Each weapon harbours move sets which adjust depending on their length and weight which, together with the variety of secondary weapons, promises heaps of creative ways to play.
Furthermore, our hero’s slick movement is provided by painstaking in-game engine animation rather than motion capture which, whilst clearly being a more laborious process to manufacture, has allowed S-GAME to weave in flashier footwork and outlandish manoeuvres that otherwise would be next-to-impossible to capture with live actors. The results are exemplary, as already stated, magical yet somehow grounded in realism. For the record, another renowned name of martial arts cinema, Japanese stunt co-ordinator and director Kenji Tanigaki, has been working with Phantom Blade Zero’s development team as action director.
The increasing notoriety of games from China is hard to ignore, with the most famous of recent years coming from the country being last year’s Black Myth: Wukong, a title which has surpassed 20 million units sold; an undisputable success. Phantom Blade Zero will likely ride the coattails of Black Myth’s success, but S-GAME have stated that whilst the studio has received investment off the back of Black Myth: Wukong’s achievement Phantom Blade Zero was already receiving offers of extra funding (so much that it’s had to turn some away) since before Black Myth’s release.
There’s appetite for action games the world over, it seems. Phantom Blade Zero might be the portal to a AAA development gold rush; not just last year’s Black Myth: Wukong as some state positively, but a substantial entryway to ancient themes that are unknown in the West but set to grow into pop mainstays like Japanese ninjas and samurai.
In the same interview with 4Gamer CEO Liang Qiwei reckons Game Science’s ode to the monkey king had more hurdles to overcome than Phantom Blade Zero does seeing as the former was so heavily indebted to classic setting. However, fundamentally, games need to be fun sources of entertainment. This is achieved, according to Qiwei, through high-quality playing experiences, something which both S-GAME and Game Science’s titles have in droves.
If we’re interpreting his point correctly: if the experience of playing games is entertaining, then opaque themes or obscure cultural references can be an advantage. The draw, he’s saying, is in players experiencing something unknown. Phantom Blade Zero looks like its dropping at the right time in history to capitalise on the appeal of the unfamiliar. Even if the gameplay approximates already established titles by FromSoftware, Tecmo, Team Ninja, it’s application via ancient settings brings something fresh.
The ‘Year of the Snake’ trailer didn’t include a release date. Phantom Blade Zero is allegedly already in a polished state, so chances are it could be out before the year’s end. All we can go off, officially, for now though, is that the game will receive a release window in 2025. Let’s hope it’s this year; Sony needs to get back to its single player roots to restore some goodwill. Regardless, whether 2025 or 2026 is the year of Phantom Blade Zero, it’ll be game of the year material.
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